Climate change and trade issues dominated the 8th India-European Union summit in New Delhi Friday with the leaders pledging to work together at the Bali climate change conference and the Doha round of world trade negotiations, according to dpa. A wide range of bilateral issues, including a free-trade pact, were also discussed by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, his Portuguese counterpart Jose Socrates, President of the EU Commission Jose Manuel Barrosso and other leaders. Regional issues like the situation in India's troubled neighbourhood including Afghanistan, Pakistan and Myanmar, were discussed. The Arab-Israel conflict and peacekeeping operations in Africa also came up as did issues of energy security, non- proliferation and terrorism. The issue of climate change was uppermost in discussions, Singh said. "Climate change is one area where the world has an obligation to cooperate," he said. "The EU and India can contribute to a solution of this global problem." A joint statement issued after the summit called on all parties to actively and constructively participate in the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia, in December. "We both want a general agreement for post-2012 within the United Nations framework," the Portuguese prime minister said. Socrates hoped the Bali meet would come up with "a roadmap to a good compromise" within the UN framework. India and the EU were committed to the stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations to prevent dangerous interference with ecosystems. "They believe that, in order to achieve this, global action is needed by all parties, according to their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, with developed countries taking the lead," the joint statement said. The leaders agreed to develop a joint work programme covering key areas of energy, environment, research and climate change to promote ongoing and future cooperation in these areas which, the statement said, were of growing importance to both sides. Trade was also high on the agenda and discussions covered both bilateral trade and the Doha round of international trade talks under the aegis of the World Trade Organization (WTO). "The successful and timely outcome of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) multilateral trade negotiations remains the foremost trade priority of the two sides," the joint statement said. "Both sides are determined to work closely together to ensure the successful conclusion of the DDA negotiations through a comprehensive, balanced and ambitious outcome in all areas of negotiation," the statement said, adding the outcome must enhance market opening and contribute to development. The Indian prime minister said he was hopeful that the broad-based bilateral trade and investment agreement currently being negotiated would be in place by the next India-EU summit in 2008. Both the Indian and European leaders said the pact would immensely boost bilateral trade which stood at 47 billion euros in 2006."The prosperity of India and the EU is closely linked," Singh said. The EU is India's largest trading partner and also the largest source of foreign direct investment for India. A third round of discussions on the trade pact are scheduled to be held in France in December. India and the EU also signed two agreements - one extending a cooperation pact on science and technology by five years and a memorandum of understanding committing the EU to support India's efforts to achieve development goals and implementation of a joint action plan with a budget of 260 million euros. The EU-India summit was preceded by a one-day business summit and a roundtable meeting of Indian and EU business leaders. The Portuguese premier is scheduled to hold separate bilateral talks with Singh on Saturday.
